2012 Boston Regional

[Brandon Zalinsky]

1058 will be there with the Gravity Gun, a vastly improved machine than over the version that competed at the Granite State Regional. We now have multiple driving and scoring strategies, like using our now functional vision system and a speedy and efficient dunk style, as well as using our air-suspension to glide over the bump! Good luck and see you all at the Agganis!

[fox46]

The Boston regional has always been a favorite of mine! The Cybergnomes hit the road at about 6am this morning. The only thing left to do on the machine mechanically may be some weight reduction because I know they're *on* the limit. Aluminum ATV rims are pretty heavy I know their code isn't the strongest. They lost all of their supporting teachers this year to another school including the only one who knew anything about programming. Since their programming mentor won't be with them, if anyone cares to drop by and check up on their progress for me tomorrow and maybe offer them a hand with setting up their auto-aiming and autonomous I would appreciate it immensely. Their two programmers are sharp guys but are pretty green when it comes to software and the team has always struggled with it.

Unfortunately I am not be able to head down with them as this year I also mentored 3756 RamFerno from London Ontario. Since their only event this year is the Waterloo regional running this weekend as well, I will be there with them.

Good luck to everyone!

I'll be watching the webcast on my phone every chance I get!

[Mikell Taylor]

Hey everyone, we've got a special announcement for the Boston Regional! We're hosting a special event for K-12 school administrators who want to learn more about FIRST, whether it's about how to get started in their district or how to support and sustain the teams they already have. We've mailed this out to the school districts but if you think your district superintendent or school board members could use a trip to the Boston Regional, please feel free to send them the information below.

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Are you a K-12 administrator in Massachusetts (or immediate vicinity) who would like to learn more about FIRST? We've got a special "VIP" event for you on Friday 23 March from 10 AM to 2 PM! The Regional Director for Massachusetts, Steve Cremer, will be there to talk about the FIRST programs available throughout the K-12 levels, and how your school district can be successful in this program -- whether or not you've already got a team! Our FIRST Ambassadors will also take you on a tour of the event, give you a chance to talk directly with the student teams, and answer your questions.

Interested? Just email ask@bostonfirst.org to find out details and RSVP!

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[Horsegirrl]

I'm on the train now! I'll see you all on and off the field! I can't wait to work with 'Angry Eric'!

i hope everyone is ready for some Hunger Games quotes this weekend!

May the odds be EVER in your favor!

[esquared]

Boston promises to be a competitive regional in 2012! This year's field combines for 48 regional wins, 5 of them from 2012 alone, over 100 awards, and a host of 2nd year teams who were Rookie All-Star, Rookie Inspiration, and Rookie Highest seeds.

A number of our teams this year were at BAE or WPI already, or will be heading to the NU CT regional next week. I don't think anyone would be surprised to see some of those alliances re-form, given how critical bridge points end up being in eliminations.

Good luck teams, and see you tomorrow!

[Tom Bottiglieri]

I'm upset to be missing the Boston regional this year! (I have graduated from Northeastern and since moved to the other coast)

Boston is my favorite event, by far. The planning committee and volunteers do such a great putting this regional together and it really shows in the quality of venue, entertainment, and overall experience.

Good luck to all the teams (but you know, especially 125)!

[78Grimey78]

The NUTRONs will be hosting the webcast this year
From what i have heard that there is no link to the webcast yet

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by 78Grimey78

The NUTRONs will be hosting the webcast this year
From what i have heard that there is no link to the webcast yet

It looks like Olin college will be webcasting through ustream. We will be there just in case anything else needs to be done. I'd stay tuned to this thread for the link.

-Brando

[OZ_341]

Any news on the link for the webcast? We would love to get this link out to everyone in the Philly Region.

Our bus is currently in CT and driving onward to MA. Can't wait!!

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Originally Posted by OZ_341

Any news on the link for the webcast? We would love to get this link out to everyone in the Philly Region.

Our bus is currently in CT and driving onward to MA. Can't wait!!

Unless something changes between now and the event, the stream should be at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bostonregional

http://www.ustream.tv/user/bluealliance2

[vance]

How about Boston being so ahead of schedule today?

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by vance

How about Boston being so ahead of schedule today?

We have a kick butt field crew!

[esquared]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

We have a kick butt field crew!

Overwhelming competence We pulled back to the normal match schedule if teams were "late" (ie on time), and it gave us some flex in the event things ran over. Turns out it was just right for the 2 match replays and a solid 15 minutes before closing ceremonies!

See you in a few hours and good luck tomorrow (stay safe!)

-Eric

[kstl99]

Wow, the Boston Regional must be the most under represented regional on CD! It was great. Miss Daisy deserves all the praise it can get. The Pink Team was great too. Even though my team, Oz-Ram, was not at the event I am so glad I went to the elimination rounds and saw these teams in person.

Eric did a great job as emcee and the rounds couldn't have run any smoother.

[Jared Russell]

Miss Daisy (the team and the robot) is currently on the bus back to Pennsylvania, and we wish safe travels to everyone else on their way home today!

Our team has been to *MANY* Regional competitions over the years, but the Boston Regional is definitely one of the very best. We heard great things about the event, and they were all 100% true. The venue, volunteers, teams, and guest speakers are among the best in FIRST.

Our robot was unable to shoot accurately for a few rounds on Friday - it took us several hours to figure out that our shooter wheels had worn and were no longer gripping the balls without slipping. We applied some grip tape to the wheels (thanks Pink!), recalibrated on the practice field, and now our shooter is more accurate than ever (I don't believe we missed more than one ball in any of our elimination matches). If anyone was wondering, in Finals 2 we had a failure on the transmission of our shooter feed motor shortly after hybrid, hence why we didn't shoot in teleop. In diagnosing the problem on the field, we originally suspected a controller getting unplugged, so we tried re-enumerating our joysticks but this resulted in being unable to operate our bridge manipulator as well. Thanks to our partners for ad-libbing on the fly to pick up the scoring slack and adapting to balance with our intake deployed!

We have many thanks and congratulations to give out:

233 - It was great to get to work with you in the playoffs and get to know your team! Your team manages to be extremely professional while also knowing how to have fun! And, as usual, your robot is amazing and is still getting better with each match you play. You inspire me. Look out for Pink in St. Louis!

246 - We were simply AMAZED that you were still on the board with our second pick. Your hybrid, ball feeding, and balancing skills were vital to defeating the ball starvation tactics employed against us in the elimination rounds. Congratulations on Chairman's as well!

125, 78, 2084 - Your alliance was outstanding, and you had us very nervous! 78, congrats on EI! I was extremely happy to see that you got your ticket to Championships!

3958 - It was an honor to finally meet the legendary Dr. Joe, and I am incredibly disappointed that 3958 won't be at Championships (barring something unexpected). Hopefully they will post some up-close pictures and videos of their robot. The drive system is truly one of a kind; I'm pretty sure AndyMark never intended their pneumatic wheels to be used as bevel gears! The quad-stinger arrangement was awe inspiring to see on the field, and it was a blast to triple balance with you on the practice field!

Jeff Downs (FTA), Ed Patterson (Field Supervisor) and all of the other volunteers - WOW! This is how all FRC events should run!